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Residents press council to review 'Flock' surveillance and ICE interactions
Summary
Residents urged West Covina council to cancel the Flock Safety surveillance contract and to adopt protocols after reporting ICE presence near community spaces; speakers said the city's assurances that it doesn't 'work with ICE' are insufficient without policies limiting data access.
Several members of the public urged West Covina leaders to take a tougher stance on surveillance and immigration-enforcement activity in public spaces. "If you would like to continue to claim that you're unfamiliar with Flock ... then do your job and look into the company you paid thousands of dollars to let them surveil this city," Leslie, a District 2 resident, told the council during oral communications.
Leslie said she had observed ICE agents near the courthouse and asked the council to cancel the Flock Safety contract and develop a protocol for staff. City Manager Mylan responded that he had reviewed materials provided by the police chief and that a transparency portal on the West Covina Police Department website includes information about how Flock cameras are used. "There is information about our Flock cameras, how the information is used, etc., on our website for any resident that's concerned," he said.
The back-and-forth illustrated a gap between some residents’ demand for formal safeguards and staff’s current approach of directing residents to published materials. Council did not vote on the contract or any immediate policy changes at the meeting; residents asked for a formal staff report and clearer limits on data access and use.
